Work

Towards a Modern-Day Teaching Machine: The Synthesis of Programmed Instruction and Online Education

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: The 21st century has seen rapid enrollment in online courses and environmental and biological determinates, such as COVID-19, that challenge how universities respond to education. However, this "new way of doing things" has empirical support from the past. Skinner (1968) laid out a science of teaching derived from operant conditioning principles and provided methods for adopting programmed instruction into what he termed a "teaching machine." This series of investigations evaluated the validity of programmed instruction in online courses, as measured by quiz performance, the frequency of discussion posts, instructor time commitment, generalization, and student perceptions of the online modalities used. Results are discussed for the synthesis of programmed instruction and group learning towards a modern teaching machine.

Source: The Psychological Record

DOI: 10.1007/s40732-020-00415-0

Authors: William B. Root, Ruth Anne Rehfeldt

Institutions: Southeast Missouri State University, The Chicago School

Language: English

Topic: Online and Blended Learning

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,750